Introduction to BlockBase

If you’re like me then you probably airgrabbed some BBT tokens. And if you’re reading this then chances are you probably don’t know what these tokens are used for or the project from which they come from. Heck you might’ve even sold them already! Luckily if you’re reading this you’re about to find out more about the token and the project behind it. By the way if you haven’t grabbed yourself some BBT tokens yet you can do so from Bloks.io, EOS Authority, or their site blockbase.network.

The BBT token airgrab is a monthly event that’s carried out every month for 2 years and each EOS account can claim the tokens just once. So if you’ve claimed BBT in one month then you can no longer claim them in the upcoming months, at least not from the same account. Once registered for the airgrab you’ll have to wait until the current monthly airgrab is done for the tokens to be distributed to all successfully registered accounts. The token distribution event is currently in its 5th airgrab, out of the 24 total airgrabs to be carried out over the next year-and-a-half. Remember: It’s 1 airgrab claim per account.

BlockBase token allocation

BlockBase will have a total of 100,000,000 tokens. 45% of these tokens will be distributed during the first 2 years, as will be explained below. An additional 10% of the tokens will also be distributed during those 2 years, but to select strategic market makers. If any of these 55% of tokens to distribute still remain after the 2 years of distribution, they will either be burnt or distributed on a final airgrab with a uniform distribution. The remaining 45% of tokens, which are withheld from the token distribution, will be used to finance BlockBase operations such as product development and R&D, marketing and sales, ecosystem funding, partnerships, and acquisitions.

BBT distribution chart

But why two years?

Well, the project that’s running the token distribution is called BlockBase and it is still in the development stages of its decentralized platform. Full completion of this platform has been confirmed for launch in the coming couple of weeks, most likely in March. The airgrab was launched 6 months ahead of the platform launch so that there could be a wide distribution of the native token BBT. This ensures that people have a token which they can use when the platform goes live. Also airgrabs are a better alternative to ICO’s or token sales when it comes to conforming with regulations. Especially for a utility token like BBT (BlockBase Token).

Further steps were taken by BlockBase to ensure that people do not exploit the airgrab process by; first, claiming tokens more than once, and secondly, creating multiple accounts to bypass the first blockade. BlockBase managed to prevent the latter by using a system/software for detecting accounts created by the same person. A seemingly impossible task to achieve considering that EOS accounts are anonymous and aren’t linked to any other account owned by the individual. However, BlockBase claims to have found a way to detect multi account token claims. If so, this is a huge breakthrough that could help many other projects and organizations looking to prevent the same thing. Which is why BlockBase has hinted they’ll either sell it as a service to said projects/organization, or publish it as open-source software that others can use for free.

What is BlockBase?

BlockBase isn’t a decentralized file storage solution as some people may think. It is a data storage (database storage) company that’s building the world’s first decentralized blockchain database network. Thus the name BlockBase for – Blockchain database. I didn’t imagine there was a big demand in the world for a decentralized blockchain database network, but apparently there is. Enough demand for BlockBase to be funded by the EU (European Union) for the research and development of this network. So how is it that this project is ‘going to make the world a better place’? Let’s dig a bit deeper or perhaps track back to what the state of databases is in our world today.

A database is an organized body of related information, i.e. data. In computing terms, a database is a software program for storing, retrieving, and manipulating this data. Therefore, a database could include names of employees in a company, their roles, their personal details (cell, home address, ID no, bank account details etc.). So it’s clear that information on a database can be public and open, or private and extremely sensitive. As we all know, centralized servers where all this information is traditionally stored are prone to hacks which lead to thefts and extortion. Data from these databases power everything from applications to operations of large entities such as banks.

I’ve heard countless stories where entities had been hacked of sensitive information. And the hackers usually hold this information for ransom. You probably still remember the Panama Papers scandal which exposed 11.5 million documents of private information of individuals around the world. And that led to the investigation of thousands of high net individuals, businesses, and even large organizations like Fifa by governments around the world.

Governments themselves aren’t immune to hacks. Just recently a US government website was hacked in retaliation to the assassination of Iran’s major general Qasem Soleimani. You might also remember the hack of Sony Pictures which led to the leak of personal information of its employees and their family members. A hack US intelligence officials have attributed to the government of North Korea. The data leak included e-mails between employees, information about executive salaries at the company, copies of then-unreleased Sony films, plans for future Sony films, scripts for certain films and other information. Costing many people personally and financially.

Ironically though, governments are the biggest participants of cyber-warfare. We were made aware of that fact by Edward Snowden’s historic 2013 leaks of highly classified information from the NSA. This time around it was US intelligence agencies and member countries of the UKUSA Agreement on the firing line. So yeah, there’s definitely a huge demand for a decentralized blockchain database network and BlockBase aims to deliver that in spades.

How BlockBase works

BlockBase aims to store databases on a blockchain without having to do full blockchain smart contracts in order to store data. Smart contracts are apparently wasteful and unnecessary for the execution of database inputs. Each time a blockbase (database) is created, a comparable EOS sidechain is also created. Using sidechains instead of the EOS mainnet chain allows the platform to scale without putting any strain on the mainnet. Which is necessary for when organizations add and store massive amounts of data to their blockbases.

Some of BlockBase’s tools

Entities will have complete control over their databases and how their respective chains are governed. When an entity first creates its database it must state how many block producers (BPs) it wants to verify blocks on its chain. An entity will also state how much is to be rewarded to the block producer for each mined block. These rewards are paid for by the entities in BlockBase tokens (BTT). In effect, every entity gets to decide how long their chain will be and its mining difficulty. Obviously the more BPs verifying blocks on your chain the more secure it becomes.

The platform sort of works like a cloud service where you
pay fees and then have them transferred to active decentralized service
providers (DSPs). These DSPs store your database across many different nodes to
ensure maximum security through decentralization, making it harder for it to be
hacked. You also decide how many of these nodes you’re willing to pay for.
Essentially every payment transaction on the BlockBase network is powered by
BBT.

Development of the platform

As I alluded to earlier, the platform started development in
Oct 2018 after it got funded through the EU
Portugal 2020 initiative for funding R&D (Research and development)
projects. Since then it already has an alpha product running on the EOS jungle
testnet. The live launch of the platform is expected to be in a couple of
weeks.

Stats from the Alpha product on Jungle testnet

You can track these stats and others about the Alpha product here –Tracker

BlockBase is also working on making these decentralized on-chain databases similar to traditional ones. This will make it easier for entities to migrate their existing traditional databases to BlockBase. The information or data stored on the databases will be encrypted so that third parties such as BPs will not be able to access it, unless stated otherwise. After all some databases from entities such as schools and municipal institutions will have to be accessible for public citizens to get a hold of.

Whether it’s from high net individuals, large global organizations, or governments. This technology of a private decentralized database seems likely to be in extreme demand as a solution to the global game of hacks. Unlike most use cases for blockchain, this is one of those I feel organizations will be rushing in droves to implement. Keeping in mind that this tech can be used for both good and bad.

I wonder if it’s just a coincidence or the EU knew exactly what they were doing when they funded BlockBase to research and develop this technology further. I think they know exactly what it’s all about. But regardless of EU’s reasons behind the backing of this tech, truth remains, BlockBase has global potential to be a hit. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on this EOSIO project for the months to come. So stay tuned if you’d like to keep in the loop of BlockBase.

Disclaimer. EOSWriter does not endorse any content or product on this page. While we aim at providing you with all the important information we could obtain, readers should do their own research before taking any actions related to the company and carry full responsibility for their decisions, nor this article can be considered as an investment advice.

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